Double Cardan Drive Shaft Solutions

[Bear80]

After lifting an 80 series past a certain point and or correcting the front castor to account for the lift, a double cardan (DC) joint drive shaft will be needed. Slee Off-Road offers an excellent solution with all new quality Spicer joints and also a local drive shaft shop can make any custom shaft for your needs. However, my personal preference is to keep with Toyota Koyo joints AND half the price of a new shaft. There is a Toyota solution for both the front AND rear of the 80 series.

Double cardan shafts for the front
The most common has been to find a rear shaft off an '95.5-'04 extra or double cab Tacoma. The bolt patterns will match at both the pinion and t-case, however the Tacoma shaft is longer in length. A competent drive shaft shop can easily re-tube it to the needed length. The other solution is to use the rear shaft off an '00-'07 Tundra extra cab, which will also need to be shortened. Both solutions are cheap, costing half the price of a new shaft and you will have Koyo joints.

Here is the Trundra shaft on the front t-case:

Double cardan shafts for the rear
Keep in mind that the bolt pattern and bolts on the rear shaft of the Land Cruiser are BIGGER than the front. It is possible to use a rear shaft off an '96-'02 4x4 4Runner. The bolt pattern will ONLY match at the t-case. The 4Runner uses a smaller slip yoke and flange at the pinion. The only solution is to have a drive shaft shop re-tube the shaft with a new slip yoke and flange to match the Land Cruiser's pinion OR cannibalize your original shaft for the slip yoke and flange. This shouldn't be much more trouble since the 4runner shaft is longer and needs to be cut down anyway. This would also be the time to use thicker tubing.

Here is the 4Runner shaft on the rear t-case:

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Also the front shaft from a pre-'84 FJ60 will not idealy work in the rear becuase a change in flange designs. Front shafts off a pre-tacoma or '84-'95 4Runner will also not work on either the front or rear of the 80 series. However, the DC joints from these shafts can be used if the LC's tube with slip yoke flange is matted to then. Then the flange(s) on the t-case must be drilled to accept the new bolt pattern from these joints. I would consider this a less than ideal solution but no less a possiblity.

 

[Bear80]

Here is a shot of the drive shafts next to each other. From left to right: front 80 series, rear Tundra, rear 80 series, and rear 4Runner.

 

[cruiserman]

Why doesn't the 86 to 95 truck/4Runner shaft work? Different bolt pattern? That can be fixed.

 

[Bear80]

Why doesn't the 86 to 95 truck/4Runner shaft work? Different bolt pattern? That can be fixed.

The flange on the cardan joint for those shafts have a slightly wider bolt pattern than the front but yet still smaller than the rear.

The DC joint from these shafts can be used if new holes are drilled on the t-case output flange. This isn't ideal but a possiblity.

 

[Tennessee80]

I don't understand why 80s werent built with DC shafts in the first place, or am I misunderstanding something. Forgive me if I am, just trying to learn....

 

[landtank]

I don't understand why 80s werent built with DC shafts in the first place, or am I misunderstanding something. Forgive me if I am, just trying to learn....

Stock 80s don't need a DC shaft. But when you lift the truck and correct the caster enough the front one does. As far as the rear goes I'm not aware of it needing one unless you pivot the diff with adjustable arms.

 

[Bear80]

Rick beat me, but he is correct. However, in my rear with the amount of lift the pinion is pointed almost dead at the t-case. I could put in upper arm adjusters but after adjusted, even if they are perfectly matched, there will be some vibration and increased wear on the u-joints. The best solution for me is to leave the upper arms alone and make a double cardan shaft. I will acutally come out about the same as the cost of just the upper arm adjusters alone, so it's a no brainer for me.

 

[simonliew]

How many inches of lift till you get vibration?
l have 2.5" now,and l have a set of J springs that l am thinking of trying.
Simon

 

[Bear80]

It depends due to how the castor is also corrected, not just hight.

 

[landtank]

How many inches of lift till you get vibration?
l have 2.5" now,and l have a set of J springs that l am thinking of trying.
Simon

It's not so much the amount of lift but the amount caster correction. If you did no caster correction you could go 6"+ without vibs, it would be a challenge driving it and probably would have death wobble.

Js on a truck with little to no additional weight ends up being at a height where caster plates should be used which then sets up the axle for a DV Shaft.

Js on a heavily weighted truck might get away with Slee's blue bushings and no need for a DC shaft.

 

[azzzuki]

Just what i was lookin for, thanks. I will start looking for a Tundra drive shaft ASAP.............................................................................

 

[simonliew]

Js and OME bushings right now.
How many degrees diference between the Slee's blue and OME ?
Simon

 

[Bear80]

Js and OME bushings right now.
How many degrees diference between the Slee's blue and OME ?
Simon

Please keep this thread on track. There are numerous threads dealing with your question that a simple search will return.

 

[Tennessee80]

what is the best way to obtain either a tundra, taco, or 4runner shaft for the front of an 80, junkyard?

 

[landtank]

what is the best way to obtain either a tundra, taco, or 4runner shaft for the front of an 80, junkyard?

That is where I got mine. You'll want to do a physical inspection of the shaft as I had a hard time getting one with a yoke on the end. Seems that it's a common fatality in a bad accident and the newer trucks were all bad accident vehicles. These were Tacoma shafts.

Even The Tacoma shafts need to be shortened but since they have a balloon tube it needs to be re-tubed anyway. Mine where done at a compressed length of 31".

 

[Bear80]

what is the best way to obtain either a tundra, taco, or 4runner shaft for the front of an 80, junkyard?

I assume your question is just meant to be all encompassing but remember the 4Runner shaft is for the REAR. However, any of the shafts should run from $40-$80 depending on the junk yard. From my experience so far, it seems some of the u-joints at the slipe yoke ends tend to have a hard spot in them. If this is the case, I would recommend picking up a new NAPA u-joint for $18. The NAPA u-joints are made by GMB in Japan and carry a life time warranty. These are also the same joints Man-a-fre sells for slightly more money.

 

[davegonz]

Bear,

How about a 60 series front double cardan? I run one in my rig and it solved my rear vibe issues. I bought the front shaft from a buddy and had the drive train shop weld it up. I used a transfer punch set and drilled out a new set of holes.

 

[Tennessee80]

Thanks for the info, Bear and Landtank. I might be needing to do this soon, as I have driveline vibes after caster plates. The truck is at 2.5 + in caster so I am not complaining about handling! I am getting some noise in front....This retrofitted driveshaft technique sounds good. I will do some local searching on this matter.

cheers

 

[davegonz]

Like you pointed out it is possible but I for one would rather not have to drill new holes on the t-case and pinion flages. The fj60 shaft still needs to be lengthened right? When the 4Runner shaft is re-tubed shorter it's simple for a shop to repalce the slip yoke with that of the 80 series. This way it's bolt on and ensured a perfect, balanced fit.

You only need to drill a new set of holes on the output flange. I reused my existing drive shaft and had the drive train shop chop and weld on the 60 series DC joint. It was really easy to do. Just another option.

 

[Bear80]

You only need to drill a new set of holes on the output flange. I reused my existing drive shaft and had the drive train shop chop and weld on the 60 series DC joint. It was really easy to do. Just another option.

Ah, that makes more sense now. However, it's pretty much the same thing with the 4runner shaft but the 4runner DC joint bolts right on. Would you mind taking a picture or two and adding it to this thread? I suppose a similar technique could be used then to make the DC joint from the '83-'95 truck/4runners work. -- I updated my original post to refect this. --